When we received our CSA bin for the week I was happy to find a big bag of fresh tomatillos among its contents. I like tomatillos, but unfortunately I never think to buy them. So having them, instead, delivered right to my front door worked out perfectly. This morning, still on my quest to use all of our CSA produce each week, I set about making a large batch of basil pesto (I was out of pine nuts so I substituted toasted cashews instead, and it turned out really well! who knew?). Continuing along the green theme, I figured I would fire up the grill and make this fire roasted tomatillo salsa, perfect to have around to serve over grilled meats, scrambled eggs, quesadillas, tacos, enchiladas, or just for a delicious snack with crunchy, corn tortilla chips. I started by peeling the husks from about two pounds of tomatillos and giving them a good rinse to remove that sticky, sappy tomatillo goo and placed them all in a large bowl. I then peeled and cut a red onion into thick one inch slices (I didn’t have quite enough red onion, so I added a small yellow onion as well, but I decided to leave it whole) and added those to the bowl along with a couple of jalapeño peppers, and about ten cloves of garlic (still in their skins). I drizzled a little extra virgin olive oil over the vegetables, and then threw them on a hot grill. I was looking to blacken the jalapeños, after which I placed them in a zip lock bag, and allowed them to steam for five minutes before removing their skins and seeds.I cooked the remaining vegetables until they were soft and had developed a nice char. (Alternatively, you could cook the vegetables on a sheet pan under the broiler.) I then removed the vegetables and allowed everything to come to room temperature. In the bowl of my food processor fitted with the steel blade, I added the onions and pulsed them until they were finely diced (but still with some good texture) and emptied those into a bowl. I then added two jalapeños, and all of the peeled roasted garlic, giving that a pulse until it was finely chopped. Next I added the roasted tomatillos and pulsed until they, too, were finely chopped, but not completely pureed, adding that mixture into the bowl as well. I squeezed in the juice of two limes, added a dash of salt, about a teaspoon of sugar, a hefty pinch of ground cumin, and a large handful of chopped cilantro. It is fresh, smokey, tart, spicy, and ever so slightly sweet from the grilled onions. Delicious, and just in time for Labor day. Enjoy!

Beautiful color on your tomatillo salsa and wonderful fresh looking pictures, I make this salsa at home too , I like to use fresh oregano instead of cilantro but I’ll have to try the cilantro next time because I like that as well, it is my favorite kind of salsa:)

looks delicious! tomatillos have such a wonderful tangy flavor, i’d be careful not to eat the salsa with just a spoon. i like using tomatillos to top Indian paneer sometimes. the flavors match beautifully.